Handling the Word
James 1:19-25
October 12, 2014

As you know we are studying through this book of James.

The whole theme of this book is simple: BE REAL
James just wants the people who claim to follow Jesus
To actually live like Jesus.

We spent the first 18 verses of James
Talking all about how a believer handles trials or temptations.

Whereas the world is prone to get unnerved or grow bitter because of them, James expected that a follower of Jesus would respond much differently.

• Joyful in adversity
• Trusting in times of dismay
• Glorying in times of hardship
• Enduring through temptations
• Discerning of their purpose

These were James’ expectations for those with genuine faith.
These were James’ expectations for those who are real.

TONIGHT JAMES MOVES ON TO ANOTHER LITMUS TEST
Now it is no longer how we handle trials,
But how we handle the word of God.

You can tell quite a bit about a person’s faith
Simply in how they respond to Scripture.

After all, the Scripture is the very word of God,
A person who isn’t interested in Scripture
Isn’t interested in listening to God.
And a person who isn’t interested in listening to God
Will have a tough time proving they trust or love Him.

John 14:24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

On the flip side:
1 John 2:5 “but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”

So how we deal with Scripture is an excellent revealer of our faith!

There are two things James wants us to examine tonight.
#1 HOW WE RECEIVE THE WORD
James 1:19-21
Back in verse 18 James began talking about the word of truth.
He said, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

Of course James was talking about the fact that
The MEANS by which God saves us is His word.

Having just recorded that truth James goes on by saying, “This you know, my beloved brethren.”

The fact, was they knew that.
They knew, just as we know, that God saves and sanctifies us through His word.

They knew, just as we know that God’s word was given
To lead us to salvation, and to lead us in obedience.

The purpose of God’s word should not be a mystery to anyone.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

We know the purpose of God’s word.
His word is not to harm us, His word is not to destroy us.
His word is meant to guide us, to save us, and to lead us in obedience
which brings the consequence of blessing.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

1 Timothy 4:13-16 “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

We know what God’s purpose is in providing us with Scripture.
Since we know these things,
James continues here by teaching us then how we should receive God’s word.

If we really believe that Scripture is inspired by God,
If we really believe that Scripture is adequate to train us in righteousness,
If we really believe that Scripture is meant to guide us, restore us, educate us, make us happy, enlighten us, warn us, and reward us,
Then how would we receive it?
I guess at one time or another everyone here has had a job, and thus received a paycheck. Did anyone here ever refuse their paycheck, because they didn’t know what their boss was up to?

Of course not. Most people go after that check as quickly as possible.

The point is this. We really believe our paycheck is a good thing, so we willingly receive it.

If we really believe God’s word is a good thing,
We will willingly receive it as well.

James gives two ways we should receive it.

A) We ought to have a DESIRE for it.
(19-20) “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

James teaches us here that we ought to desire God’s word.

Don’t most people begin looking forward to getting it before it comes?
I bet if I ask anyone in here,
They can tell me when they will get their next paycheck.

It is something we desire, because it is a good thing.

So is God’s word, and we should have an even greater desire for it.

NOTICE A DESCRIPTION OF
A PERSON WHO TRULY DESIRES GOD’S WORD.

“quick to hear”

What does that mean?
It means a heart that desires God’s word
• Takes every available opportunity to hear God’s word.
• Takes every available opportunity to read God’s word,
• Takes every available opportunity to listen to preaching or teaching.

It is a heart that truly thinks the word of God is helpful in all situations.
When this heart is happy, it goes to the word for Psalms of praise.
When this heart is down-trodden, it goes to the word for encouragement.
When this heart is confused, it goes to the word for guidance.
When this heart is hungry, it goes to the word to be filled.

It is a heart that is quick to hear the word of God.
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

Psalm 119:25-32 “My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word. I have told of my ways, and You have answered me; Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders. My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word. Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law. I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.”

Psalms 119:97-104 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

A heart that truly desires the word of God will run to it, and is “quick to hear” it.

NOT in a heart of a person who does not truly know the Lord.
There is no hunger for the Scripture,
There is no hunger to get to know God better,
There is no thirsting for God’s truth.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Some of you have enough dust on your Bible to write damnation on the cover with your finger.”

That is the sad state of the unredeemed.

A heart of true faith loves the word so much that it is “quick to hear”.

James said a heart that desires God’s word is also:
“slow to speak”

Understand this in light of what church was like in James’ day.
Most people didn’t have the Scriptures to read for themselves.

Then, if people were going to get it,
It required someone else reading it to them or preaching to them.

James said a person who desires God’s word, would be quiet, not interrupting, and certainly not argumentative.

Have you ever had a conversation with a person who finishes your sentences?
Have you ever had a conversation with a person
Who interrupts you, or won’t give you an in to talk?

You know what that reveals? It reveals a person who cares more about what they are gonna say to you than what you are gonna say to them.

Now, it’s one thing to be that way with normal conversation,
But when you do that to God, we have a problem.

Proverbs 18:2 “A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.”

Proverbs 10:19 “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

A heart that really desires to know the word of God
Won’t try to interrupt it.

Furthermore, when the Bible does speak, they won’t argue with it.

Proverbs 13:18 “Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline,
But he who regards reproof will be honored.”

Proverbs 15:5 “A fool rejects his father’s discipline, But he who regards reproof is sensible.”

Proverbs 15:31-32 “He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.”

I think you get the point.
A person who will not only be “quick to listen” but also “slow to speak”
Is a person who values God’s word and God’s thoughts above his own.

He isn’t interested in arguing with God,
He is interested in learning from God.
This is good fruit!

James also says this type of person is:
“slow to anger”

Now this means, they are moldable by the word of God.

They just love God’s word, even if it tells them they are wrong.
Even if God’s word reveals that they are wrong in every facet of life,
They will still love the word of God,
And instead of rejecting it and getting angry,
They will submit and respond.
That is an attribute of true saving faith.

A person who reads the Bible, or hears Scripture preached,
But gets angry when it convicts their lifestyle,
Is not a person who truly believes the Bible is for their own good,
and that reveals the absence of saving faith.

Acts 7:54 “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.”

Paul dealt with a group of people who responded this way,
And it forced him to ask them:

Galatians 4:16 “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

What James reveals here is that
A heart that truly believes God’s word leads to salvation
Is a heart that will truly desire God’s word.

But not only will they have DESIRE FOR God’s word.
They will have a:
2) DEDICATION TO IT
(21), “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

Of course, this follows very closely with what James said about being “slow to anger.”

A person with true saving faith, will listen to what the word says,
And will be dedicated letting it work in their lives.

A person who is truly dedicated to receiving the word of God
Will do two things.

“Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness,”

Will get rid of the obstacles
That would keep them from wanting to receive it.

A person who is living in sin won’t want to hear God’s word,
Because it might convict that sin.

So a person who truly wants to receive God’s word
Will get rid of the sin that would make them feel that way.

They don’t want anything to cause them to not want to hear God’s word.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

It is a picture of a person who doesn’t want anything
Coming between them and the hearing of God’s word.

“in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

This is a person who just wants to know what God has to say.

1 Peter 2:1-3 “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

John MacArthur said, “Just as a newborn baby does not have to be taught to hunger for its mother’s milk, the newborn child of God does not have to be taught to hunger for God’s word, his spiritual food and drink.” (MacArthur, John; “The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; James”, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill, 1998, pg. 65-66)

RAMEY WANTED FOOD WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
(You could offer her anything else, but she wasn’t having it!)

That is how we are to receive God’s word.
We are to DESIRE it, and we are to be DEDICATED to it.

How we receive God’s word reveals rather or not we have saving faith.
A person who can’t get enough of God’s word reveals they believe it.
A person who could care less about it, reveals they don’t.

So the first indicator of our faith is how we receive the word of God.

#2 HOW WE RESPOND TO THE WORD
James 1:22-25

It is important to see how a person receives the word of God.
A person who doesn’t want it, won’t listen to it, and gets angered by it, isn’t receiving it properly.

However, receiving the word is only half of the equation.

That is why James continues here.
He doesn’t want us to think that simply being dedicated to go
And to sit quietly through sermons is all that it requires
To be able to say we have saving faith.

There is another aspect to our faith and its relationship to God’s word.
What do we do with the word once we get it?
And there are two responses people have.

1) DISREGARD IT
(22-24) “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”

Some people may seem eager to hear the word of God,
And some may even sit quietly through a sermon,

But reading your Bible, and going to church does not equal saving faith.

For there are many who hear the word, but who do nothing about it. And as James tells us plainly here,

A person who hears the word, but doesn’t obey it,
Has deceived themselves.

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

We’ve talked about it many times
SAVING FAITH OBEYS GOD

Too many people today have watered down faith to where it is nothing more than an intellectual agreement with a truth they can’t disprove.

True faith obeys.

John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”

John 10:1-6 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

And the tragedy is that those who hear,
But don’t obey are not genuine.

And some day this truth will hit people like a ton of bricks!

Matthew 7:21-27 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

It is a clear truth, true faith obeys.

To that James says, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”

Picture a person with a big pimple on their nose.
They look in the mirror and see it, but if they don’t do anything about it,
When they walk away from the mirror, they will forget that it is there,
And will suffer the consequences.

So it is with a person who hears God’s word, but does nothing about it.
A person who reads the Bible and it reveals their shortcomings,
But they do nothing about it,
When they leave, they will forget their shortcomings,
And soon suffer the consequences.

God’s word is not a suggestion, it is meant to save you.
Meant to deliver you, to warn you, and to set you free from the enemy.
It is not wise to disregard it.

First some disregard it.
2) DO IT
(25) “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

The proper response to hearing God’s word is to do what you heard.
Put God’s word into action.
We call this obedience.

True saving faith will obey.

And James says this person will be blessed in what he does.

Obeying the word is wise
Obeying the word works
So if you want happiness, if you want blessing, then obey it.

This person will inherit salvation.

I do not believe you can work yourself into heaven.
But I will tell you this.
If you do what the Bible says,
I promise you will spend eternity in heaven.

Because the Bible tells you to repent of sin, to trust in Jesus,
To persevere to the end.

God’s word will never guide you down the wrong path,
So obey it!

GET TO KNOW IT AND THEN DO WHAT IT SAYS

Psalm 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

Our level of obedience is a great revealer of our faith.
Saving faith obeys. Fake faith doesn’t.

Examining Esau
Genesis 25:27-34
October 12, 2014

Last week we jumped back in to our study of Genesis
And we introduced Moses’ next two major players in the book of Genesis.

• He’s shown us Adam who taught us about sin
• He’s shown us Noah who taught us about judgment
• He’s shown us Abraham who taught us about salvation

Last week he introduced Isaac and Jacob (really about Jacob)
WHO TEACHES US ABOUT GRACE.

We commonly sing
“Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved, how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.”

But the reality is that grace was at work in your life
Long before you ever believed.

• It was the grace of God that you were exposed to the gospel
• It was the grace of God that you were made aware of your sin
• It was the grace of God that you even comprehended the truth

But even more than that, if you are saved, it was God’s grace
To first choose you and determine to make a vessel of mercy out of you.

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

It is not an overstatement to say, that the only reason we are saved at all
Is because we are recipients of grace.

And we began examining the realities of this fact last week
As we looked at Genesis 25.

As I told you last time, Genesis 25 is a chapter of contrasts.
• First Moses contrasts Isaac to Ishmael
• Then he contrasts Jacob to Esau

And the clear and unmistakable point is that Isaac and Jacob were chosen
While Ishmael and Esau were not.

The peculiar thing is that in both cases,
God even chose the less obvious of the two.

But God the Potter has the right to choose whomever He will.
And from there we ventured in to Romans 9, a chapter that challenges those who seem to think election is some sort of unfair reality.

Those who look at the truths of election and say, “NO FAIR!”

Paul’s sobering and penetrating response was this:
Romans 9:20-21 “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”

It all comes down to having a proper perspective of who God is
And a proper perspective of who we are.

• He is Creator, we are created
• He is Holy, we are fallen
• He is Omnipotent, we are weak
• He is Truth, we are depraved
• He is Love, we are selfish
• He is Eternal, we are mortal
• He is Judge, we are the judged

Understanding election rests upon your ability to comprehend the fact that God is higher than you in every regard.

Refusing to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over His creation in all things
Is a tragic move that fails to understand the depravity of man
And the glory of God.
It wrongly places the Savior and the Sinner on equal ground.

Isaiah 29:16 “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker — An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?”

So I hope you are beginning to understand that this popular attitude today
That puts man’s will at the center of salvation is a dangerous perversion.

God has always been and will always be at the center of salvation.
Salvation has always been about God’s sovereign will,
And never the fallen will of the sinner.

Romans 9:16 “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”

And that is precisely what I want to show you this morning
As we finish Genesis 25.

One of the biggest misconceptions of those who hold to this
“free will of man” notion is that man will choose God.

They suppose that if everyone simply has a choice then of their own accord sinners will choose God and choose to be saved.
This is so naïve

Ephesians outlines what sinners want.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

Fallen sinful man does not desire a relationship with God
Fallen sinful man desires sin

The only thing that can cause a sinner
To quit seeking sin and start seeking God
Is the grace of God in the sinners life to change his heart.

The very next verses in Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),”

The sinner didn’t suddenly change his mind
God changed the sinners mind

The sinner didn’t finally decide to leave his sin
God pulled him out of it

It was the mercy of God, it was the grace of God
Purposely and sovereignly making a difference
In the life of an otherwise unwilling sinner.

And of course that is Isaac and Jacob (and you and I)
Vessels of mercy, recipients of grace

But this morning I want to look at the other side, I want to examine Esau.
Esau is the perfect illustration because Esau was clearly not chosen.

Now, you must understand that while God does choose and predestine
You and I have no possible capacity to know who that is and is not.
You and I can never look at another human and say,
“Well, he’s obviously not chosen”
(would have written off Paul for sure)

You don’t know, only God knows
(be a missionary!)
The only reason we can look at Esau as an example is because he is one of only two people in Scripture that we do know was not chosen.
(Judas being the other)

How do we know Esau was not chosen?
Genesis 25:23 “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

Malachi 1:2-3 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

This is not information we are normally privy to,
But in this case God had allowed us to see into His divine elective plan.

So we can look at Esau as an example of those who were not chosen.

And the question is this.
Is God preventing Esau from salvation?

• You know, since God didn’t choose him, do we see Esau begging to be saved and yet continually hindered by God from salvation?

• Is Esau a man who so desperately wants to be godly, but he is hindered and restrained by God’s election?

And the answer you will see is “NO”

Here is the sad reality.
• Esau wants no part of salvation
• Esau wants no part of godliness
• Esau could care less about the things of God

And this is true for every human unless God intervenes.

But let me show you that
Esau was not a man trying to be saved and yet restrained.
Esau was a man who wanted no part of salvation.

And to show you that let’s look at Genesis 25:27-34

And there are two main points we’ll look at, and then do some more searching
#1 THE BOYS
Genesis 25:27-28

Now we won’t spend much time here except to point out again that of the two boys, Jacob is not the one that you and I would have probably picked.

I mean look at them.
“Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.”

Incidentally “peaceful” was just a kind way of saying “soft”

And just think about these boys for a second.
This is Duck Dynasty meets Martha Stuart

We have here “The Hunter & The Homemaker”

These boys are different as night and day

And their difference even caused a division among their parents.

(28) “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

It is important for you to recognize here another one of the mistakes of Isaac.
Isaac was a man of flesh and you’ll find him living much of his life in this manner.

Isaac wasn’t what we would call a model man of faith,
But once again, he was chosen and this made all the difference.

But Isaac here has little concern about the oracle of God,
He still chooses Esau based on Esau’s “man’s man” mentality.

However Rebekah chooses Jacob.
Whether she chose him because of the prophecy or because he was a momma’s boy we don’t really know.

But again we are reminded that these two boys are drastically different,
And if you were to choose one to be the patriarch of a nation,
You’d probably pick Esau.

Now that is just the boys, let’s get to the issue at hand.
#2 THE BIRTHRIGHT
Genesis 25:29-34

There were two distinct things that a Jewish boy wanted from his father.
One was the birthright, the other was the blessing.

The blessing is sadly a little foreign to us, as we don’t see it much in our culture.
It is important and we’ll talk about it a little more later.

But the birthright you probably understand.
We do live in a nation that understands a thing or two about inheritance.

This was the physical inheritance.
If you’ll remember Isaac got the birthright from Abraham.
Genesis 25:5-6 “Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.”

The birthright was the whole shebang!
There was none of this divide it up evenly among heirs in that day.
Only one got the birthright.

And incidentally it was always the oldest, the firstborn who received it.
(except in instances where God intervened)

That is why when we read this text,
It is already understood that the birthright belongs to Esau and not Jacob.

Both of those boys knew that without having to be told.
Furthermore, given Isaac’s affinity for Esau over Jacob, this was a certainty.

Someday Esau would get the birthright.

And the main thing I want you to grasp about the birthright
Is that it pertains to things in the future, not the present.
(Just like an inheritance)

A birthright brings a future satisfaction, not a present one.

Now let’s look at this peculiar story.
(29-30) “When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.”

The ironic thing about this story is that we here
Have an interesting swapping of roles.

Esau was usually the hunter that set traps for his prey,
But on this day it wasn’t Esau that was doing the hunting, it was Jacob.

Jacob set the trap, Jacob baited the hook,
And along came his prey just as expected.

We talked about this extensively last Sunday night in our study of James.
James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
(Deer take the bait for deer corn and thus get killed)

They are what the Scripture calls “unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed”

And yet that is precisely how Esau is acting here.
It is his inner lust for immediate satisfaction
That has caused him to step right into the trap Jacob has set.
Esau is hungry (he thinks he is starving) and he wants a bowl of soup.

(31-34) “But Jacob said, ” First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

Certainly you caught the main point of those 4 verses.
“Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

And from Moses’ perspective this is an absolutely heinous crime!
Aside from the obvious disrespect it shows
To all that God had given Abraham and Isaac,
It is foolish picture of a man who traded his future for the present.

Obviously Scripture repeatedly and emphatically tells us not to do this.

If you want an illustration that will stick with you, let me give you this one.
Revelation 13:16-18 “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

If you don’t take the mark, you don’t buy, sell, or eat.
If you do take the mark, you get destroyed for all eternity.

Revelation 14:9-10 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

Obviously you either pick comfort in the present, or comfort for eternity.

That is why John said, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,”

The word “calculate” there is the same word Jesus used:
Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

John is saying, “Think about the cost of this decision”
Yes taking the mark will make today better, but what about tomorrow.

That is the type of decision that Esau is staring at.
Comfort today or blessing tomorrow

Scripture never shies away from telling you to always choose tomorrow!

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

You see not only Esau’s foolishness, but you also see where his heart is.
• He is a fleshly man
• He is a man of temporary carnal lust
• He is a man of instant gratification

And his disdain for his birthright is seen in THREE distinct ways

1) HE WAS UNDISTURBED (31-32)
“But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”

Esau should have been appalled at the audacity of Jacob
Esau should have scoffed at such a foolish notion
He should have said, “You are out of your mind!”

And yet, it didn’t even bother him
He said, “I am about to die” (a slight over exaggeration) “of what use then is the birthright to me?”

That is a man who drastically undervalues
All that God had blessed Abraham and Isaac with.

We also see his disdain in the fact that:
2) HE WAS UNDISCERNING (33)
“And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.”

What was the purpose of swearing?
• This was an oath
• This was a contract

And oaths and contracts aren’t for the present, they are for the future
This oath was to protect the agreement here from future difficulty

Esau should have recognized how serious Jacob was here
And that in the future he might live to regret this decision.

But Esau was totally undiscerning and unconcerned about future matters.
How foolish is the man who trades his future for the present.

3) HE WAS UNDITHERED (34)
(This means he wasn’t even bothered)

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way.”

We don’t even get a hint of a “What have I done?” mentality.
There is no remorse, there is no sorrow
He is totally fine with what he just did.

And to all that Moses says, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

SO WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THAT STORY?

The point here is that Esau was clearly a man
Who did not desire the things God might have for him.

You can read that God chose Jacob over Esau and say, “Oh poor Esau”,
But look at Esau. He didn’t care. He didn’t want the things of God.

He valued all that God might have for him
As less value than a bowl of pea soup.
(Have you ever had pea soup? That’s a horrible trade)

Esau is an eternal example of a sinful man who loves sin
And who does not care for God.

In fact, the New Testament actually uses him as this example.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 12:12-17

(Any time an Old Testament story is used in the New Testament,
You must interpret it in light of its New Testament revelation and application)

If you are familiar with Hebrews 12 you know it begins with that famous passage about running the race with endurance.

It is a chapter written in response to hardship and discipline
And it is a chapter written to remind you of God’s purpose in your pain
And to encourage you to persevere in the midst of it.

And when we get down to verse 12 of the chapter
The writer moves to the application / exhortation part of the chapter.

(READ VERSE 12) – WHAT TO STRENGTHEN
This is a verse that calls for encouragement.

You have weak and tired and feeble brothers and sisters who want to quit,
DON’T LET THEM.

(READ VERSE 13) – WHAT TO STRAIGHTEN
This is a verse that calls for an example.
“lame” there is actually a word that can mean “vacillating”
The writer actually sees a tired and vacillating brother
Who could go either direction at this point.

You run straight, and stay in your lane, so those who are following you will take the good path, won’t fall into the hole, and will recover.

(READ VERSE 14) – WHAT TO SEEK
This is still more about your example.

Obviously here seek “peace” and “sanctification”

Don’t intentionally make life harder on yourself than it has to be,
But above all make sure that you are holy before God.

And then comes the verses I want you to see.
(READ VERSES 15-17) – WHAT TO SCREEN

In verse 15, look out for the UNDERACHIEVER
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God;”

This is the lost person who is in your congregation.
They are in church sure enough, but it is obvious they have not yet been saved. The fruit is not there, they do not yet get it.

Don’t let them be content to be in church but not know Christ.
Don’t let them stop short.

In verse 15, look out for the ROOT OF BITTERNESS
“that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;”

This is the grumbler and discourager
Who keeps others from fulfilling God’s calling in their life.

The writer says watch out for those people and don’t let them spread their bitterness to others – SILENCE THEM

And then in verses 16 and 17, look out for THE GODLESS PERSON
“that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit a blessing, he was rejected for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Esau “sold his own birthright for a single meal”
And did you catch what Scripture called him for doing it?

“immoral” and “godless”

There are two interesting words.
“immoral” translates PORNOS

It’s where we get our word for pornography
It means fornication or adultery

It pictures a man that is sensual and lustful
And who only cares to gratify his sinful flesh.

This is the type of man Esau was.
It was all about the natural fleshly craving of his own life.
No discernment, no respect, no love, just a basic fleshly lust for food.

“godless” translates BEBELOS

(BELOS is the word for “threshold”)
(BAINO, the prefix means “to go”)

It is “to go over the threshold”
It means “permitted to be trodden”

Another way to put it is “accessible”
It is a word that came to mean “unhallowed” or “unsacred”

If we were describing a woman it would be “loose” or “easy”

This word came to be known as the opposite of “sacred”
And since God is what makes things sacred,
This word became translated as “godless”

Esau was this type of man.
He followed the lusts of his flesh and indulged in anything he wanted
Regardless of what God had to say about it.

He was “immoral” and he was “godless” and he proved that
When followed the flesh and sold his birthright.

And if that was not enough, he later sealed the deal:
“For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Oh, he cried alright (trying to manipulate Isaac with his tears)
Oh, he felt remorse alright
BUT HE NEVER REPENTED

He never let go of his sin

AND THAT IS THE POINT
God wasn’t a monster who held Esau back from what He wanted, Esau never wanted God.
And listen – SINNERS NEVER DO
Philippians 3:17-19 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

That was Esau, that’s all he wanted
In effect he made this decision right there before Jacob.
He wanted soup, not God or God’s blessings.

So you can fault God for not choosing Esau, but that is looking at this thing the wrong way. It was Esau who did not choose God.

And incidentally, that would be true for all of us.
NONE OF US WOULD HAVE CHOSEN GOD

But He chose us.
He pulled us out, He set His grace on us

If He hadn’t, we would be just like Esau.

Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

That is the story of Genesis 25!

Moses is taking Isaac and Jacob and telling you
To recognize what grace looks like.

If God had not intervened no one would be saved.
• But God in His mercy stepped in and saved Isaac
• God in His mercy stepped in and saved Jacob
• God in His mercy stepped in and saved you

You have to understand this
So that you will give God the glory He deserves!

You have to understand this
So you will honor God as the sovereign and gracious Potter He is.

You and I are nothing but Esau’s who’ve been treated like Jacob
Praise God for such amazing grace!

The Source of Temptation
James 1:13-18
October 5, 2014

As you know we’ve been working through
This tremendous book of James.

James is writing to persecuted Christians,
And his desire for them above all is that they BE REAL.

He isn’t interested in sentimental faith
He isn’t interested in hypocritical claims
He wants to see people who claim to follow Jesus to live like Jesus.

And this desire is true even in the midst of suffering.

Scriptures says that Jesus “learned obedience through the things which He suffered”

He most certainly didn’t shy away from them.
Suffering had a specific role, even in the life of Christ.

Hebrews 2:10 “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”

Suffering had a role in the life of Christ just as it has a role in your life.

It also is there to bring about perfection in you.
• This is why James said to “count it all joy when you face various trials”
• This is why James said to “glory” in your “humiliation”
• This is why James said to persevere in your trials

Don’t shy away from them, learn from them
Persevere through them
Let them have their perfect result in you

Peter said:
1 Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,”

1 Peter 4:1-2 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

Suffering is not pleasant, trials and temptations are not fun,
But they do serve a specific purpose in making us more like Christ.

Last week we talked a little bit more about the
TYPE of trials James has been talking about.

The word for “trials” in verse 2 and “trial” in verse 12
Is in fact the same word that is translated “tempted” in verse 13.

PEIRASMOS (pay-ras-mos) in the Greek
• It is the word used of what Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness
• It is the word used of what Satan seeks to do to believers

It is a word that is most commonly translated “temptation”

So James is not just talking about any and every trial,
But predominantly the trial that tempts you to sin against God
Or to fall away from God.

This is more than just our everyday hardships,
This is the spiritual battle we face against sin day in and day out.

And last week we learned that
The man who perseveres through them is blessed,
Because his perseverance proves that he has a genuine love for Christ,
And his genuine love for Christ will end in reward.

So endure.

Now the question James is going to deal with TONIGHT
Is the source of those trials, or the source of that temptation.

• If God says we can learn from it
• If God says they can be used to perfect us
• If God says they are a test that can prove us

Then it only stands to reason to ask whether or not
God is the One who sends them.

Is God setting me up for a fall just to see if I love Him or not?

That is the question.
And it is an important one because it is an issue
That penetrates all the way down to the very character of God.

• How can we say God is for us, if God does in fact tempt us to sin?
• How can we say God is holy, if He does in fact tempt us to sin?
• How can God judge sin, if He pushes people toward it?

And so James, after talking a great deal about temptation,
Now sets out to show you where it comes from.

Tonight we talk about the source of temptation,
And the main answer James wants you to come to is this;
Whatever the source, it IS NOT GOD.
And there are three reasons James gives
As to why we know God never tempts us to sin.
#1 TEMPTATION IS CONTRARY TO GOD’S NATURE AS HOLY
James 1:13-15

Just to make sure you perfectly understand where James is going here,
He spells it out for you right off the bat.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”

Whenever that temptation arises:
• Temptation to cuss
• Temptation to gossip
• Temptation to commit adultery
• Temptation to be greedy

Whatever it is, James says,
“NEVER let your mind assume that God is bringing this to you.”
GOD DOES NOT TEMPT

And there are two reasons James gives for why God will never tempt us.
1) GOD CAN’T BE TEMPTED
2) GOD DOESN’T TEMPT

“for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

One of the reasons God is not the origin or the author of our temptation
Is because God has not fallen prey to the temptation to sin.

God has never been tempted to sin.
• He has never seen sin as something worthwhile.
• He has never seen sin as anything that has any merit at all.
• There is nothing in sin that He would even for a second claim was beneficial or worthy of desire.

God holds such a low view of sin, that He is not tempted to try it,
And therefore has no interest that anyone else try it either

I like to watch movies (Action, sports, comedy)
And I might even recommend one to you.

But you’ll never catch me recommending to you a foreign musical.
I frankly don’t see the point.

That is sort of like it is with God and sin.
There is nothing in God that thinks any part of sin is the least bit good,
So why would He tempt us to try it?

And so “He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
Now we know He does allow temptation
If He didn’t, it wouldn’t happen.

But He doesn’t do it.

Remember Job, God didn’t do those things to Job, but He did allow Satan.

Remember King Ahab in the Old Testament?
God wanted him deceived, but God didn’t do it.

1 Kings 22:19-23 “Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. “The LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. “Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ “Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you.”

God can’t lie
God can’t tempt
But that does not mean it is forbidden completely

After all, these can be valuable tools in the growth of our faith
As we have already seen.

But the point James wants you to know is that
When you are tempted to sin, you cannot blame it on God.

It is contrary to God’s nature as holy.

Well, where does temptation come from then?

Some would say – THE DEVIL

Now, no doubt the devil is a tempter.
• He tempted Eve
• He tempted Jesus
• He’ll tempt you

Satan was in fact first tempted by evil,
And so he has no problem tempting others.

HOWEVER, EVEN SATAN IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF YOUR TEMPTATION.

The greatest tempter you face on a daily basis is not Satan
IT IS YOUR OWN CARNAL FLESH.

(14) “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
We’ve talked about this verse so many times I fear getting redundant with you, but it is important that you understand this.

So let me see if I can put it to you this way.
“I’ve never been shot by a deer rifle”

Do you know why?
Because I have no urge to eat from a deer feeder.

Think about it, those traps are everywhere.
Deer hunters put them up all over the place as a temptation to deer.
The temptation is that when the deer comes to the corn – POW!

So in one sense you can call the hunter the tempter,
But there is only one reason why the hunter’s temptation works
And that is because the deer wants the corn.

If deer didn’t love corn,
Then deer feeders would not be a successful temptation.

So really the temptation doesn’t come from the hunter,
It comes from the stomach of the deer.

And that is what James is saying.
“each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Oh sure, Satan is setting up feeders all over the place.
• He has greed feeders
• He has porn feeders
• He has money feeders
• He has power feeders
• He has gossip feeders
• He has food feeders
• He has liquor feeders

He has all sorts of feeders he sets up,
But they only work because he is offering something you already desire.

Your temptation begins in your heart.
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

All Satan does is offer you what your heart already wants.

“carried away” is EXELCO in the Greek.
It means “to draw out”

And it isn’t Satan that draws you out, it is your lust that does that.
Satan isn’t there saying, “Yoo hoo, come on out”
It is your heart that does that.

Remember the garden?
Oh sure Satan argued with Eve and told her to eat the fruit, but do you remember why Eve ate it?

Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

It is your heart that feeds the temptation.

Now here is the problem with following that temptation.

“Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin;”

“conceived” is SULLAMBANO
Literally it means “to take together”

What James is saying is that when you go ahead and accept that lust,
Or take that lust, or consent to that lust, “it gives birth to sin”

We are called to “walk by the Spirit”
So that we do “not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

James is referring to the person who just went ahead and consented.
He took it.

Listen, it is not a sin to be tempted, it is a sin to act on it.

I’ve always like Adrian Rogers definition of temptation:
“Temptation tries to get us to fulfill an acceptable desire in an unacceptable way.”

Sex for example
• It’s not bad, God created it
• He even created the confines and the boundaries for it
• But you step outside of those boundaries and it is sin

And LUST ALWAYS LEADS TO SIN
There is never a time in your life when you will give in to your lust
That it won’t lead you to sin.

“when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin;”

And that is problematic because:
“when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Sin has only ever wanted to take you one place.
John 10:10a “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;”
So, think about that deer.
• It’s alive, it’s well, but Satan the hunter has filled a feeder with deer corn.
• If the deer will decide to simply be content with the food that God has provided, he’ll be safe.
• But if the deer follows the impulse of his flesh, he’ll head out to that feeder and – DEATH

It’s just the same for you and me.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

You have got to make sure you do not follow the impulses of your flesh,
It will certainly lead to sin and eventually lead to death.

But the main point James is making is that
Your temptation to sin did not come from God.

It is contrary to His nature as Holy.
Because He is holy, and because He hates sin,
He will never tempt you to try it.

As a side note for us as we seek to be like Christ.
Don’t ever directly or indirectly, encourage another person to sin.

God would never do that.
• He doesn’t set traps
• He doesn’t say it’s ok when it isn’t
• He doesn’t coerce just to get you in trouble

God doesn’t want you to sin so He will never tempt you
Adopt that same attitude with others.

God doesn’t tempt because it is contrary to His nature as holy.
#2 TEMPTATION IS CONTRARY TO GOD’S ROLE AS FATHER
James 1:16-17

Here is another reason that we know that God doesn’t tempt us to sin.
• All sin ever brings is death
• All sin ever brings is a curse
• All sin ever does is promise fun and end in despair

And God never wishes that for His children

James says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

In other words, don’t let anyone fool you here.
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights”
What was the first lie Satan told Eve?
Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

There he was telling Eve how stingy God was.
“God just won’t give you what is good will He Eve?”

And of course that wasn’t at all true.
• It was God who created the garden…
• It was God who placed them in the garden…
• In fact the only reason Eve was even there is because after creating Adam, God saw that he needed more.

There was nothing stingy about God at all.
And that has always been true.

In this life, if you ever received anything was truly good or genuinely perfect, do you know where it came from?
It came from your heavenly Father.

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above”

Satan never gave you a single good thing
Every good thing came from God.

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Psalms 21:1-6 “O LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him. For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.”

Psalms 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

God gives good gifts.
He is generous.

I’ve always loved what Jesus said:
Matthew 7:9-11 “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

And that is James’ point as well.
All of the truly good and perfect gifts
Come “down from the Father of lights”

It is not in God’s nature to tempt you to take something that is junk.
• God only gives good gifts.
• He would never give you a counterfeit
• He would never offer less than His best

God doesn’t buy “Best Choice” or “Great Value”
God gives the best, not the knock off

When God gives it, it is the best, and that is why James knows God would never offer you some second rate piece of sin.

It’s not in His nature as a Father.

James even goes on to speak about our heavenly Father and say, “with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Carrie and I went garage sale shopping in Abilene yesterday.
And it wasn’t long before we came across a pair of roller skates for Zech.

But those of you with more than one kid know you can’t have “variation”.
You can’t do for one and not the other.

Well with God “there is no variation”
(He doesn’t only give good to certain children, and off brand to others)

James also said there is no “shifting shadow”

That is to say there is no “slight of hand” going on.

When we were in China several years ago, Tommy and I each bought mp3 players. The lady at the counter assured us that they were “4GB”, so we bought them.

We got home to realize they had been loaded with a virus that caused them to say they had 4GB, but once you pulled the virus off you realized they would only hold about 20 songs.

That was a “shifting shadow”

God doesn’t do that.
• You don’t ask for a fish and get a snake
• You don’t ask for a loaf and get a stone

God gives only good gifts and He is the giver of every one of them.
So James knows that God isn’t offering
Some cheap knock off temptation.

Namely because:
• Temptation is contrary to God’s nature as Holy
• Temptation is contrary to God’s role as Father

#3 TEMPTATION IS CONTRARY TO GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
James 1:18

We talked about it this morning,
But here again is a reference to God’s sovereignty over salvation.

When James says “He brought us forth by the word of truth”
James is referring to salvation.

He is referring to the fact that God opened our blinded eyes, pierced our darkened heart and brought us out of death into life.

The “word of truth” was the tool He used to do this since
“the gospel is the power of God for salvation.”

So God saved us.
DID YOU CATCH WHY?

“In the exercise of His will”

There it is again – God is sovereign over salvation.
• He willed it to happen
• He wanted it to happen

So clearly James has pointed out that God’s will
Was to bring you out of darkness into light, out of death into life,
Out of sin into holiness.

“In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word”

WHY?
“so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

What were the “first fruits”?

They were the first produce of the crop.
More than that, they were a symbol of things to come.
They were a picture of what was on the way.

And James says, of all of God’s “creatures”,
He is holding us up as the “first fruits”

He is holding us up as the example
He is showing us off as what they should be

That means that God saved us in order to demonstrate in us
What He desired from all humanity.

That is His plan of salvation.

Well if God wants to use us a holy example for everyone else, why would He work against that by tempting us to sin?

And the answer of course is that He wouldn’t.

SO LET’S SAY IT PLAIN AND CLEAR
IT IS NEVER THE WILL OF GOD OR THE WORK OF GOD THAT YOU EVER SIN

• He is too Holy to tempt you
• He is too Generous to tempt you
• He is too Focused on His plan of salvation to tempt you

Temptation does not come from God

So here you are, in the midst of your trials
A temptation comes your way

HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
1) This temptation did not come from God
2) This temptation is a test to see if you love Christ
3) Resisting this temptation will make you happy
4) Enduring this temptation is part of the process of perfection
5) You should rejoice that you are found worthy to suffer and you are being perfected

Those realities were a far cry from what James was seeing
From those who claimed to be Christians.

He saw people blaming God for their temptation
He saw people giving in to that temptation
He saw people complaining and asking why

And James saw such a difference between that and Jesus,
Who was intentionally tempted in all things as we are.

He saw such a difference between that and Jesus who never failed to demonstrate a love for God and a denial of the flesh.

Think about the temptation of Jesus.
Think about what He said to Satan

Turn the stones into bread
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

That is denial of flesh and love for God

Throw yourself off the temple
“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”

That is a contentment that God knows what He is doing,
And a refusal to ask why or to force God to prove Himself

Bow down and worship me
“You shall worship the Lord and serve Him only”

Wow, Jesus had a handle on temptation didn’t He?
James wants you and I to handle it just like He did.

He wants us to be Just Like Jesus
So go out, and face temptation like Jesus did!

Vessels of Mercy
Genesis 25:1-26
October 5, 2014

Well, it’s been three months since we were last in the book of Genesis.
And so allow me for just a second to pull you back into the flow.

Genesis is not a historical study, it is a study of the gospel.
We have called it “The Gospel According to Moses”

And it seems that Moses is demonstrating God’s salvation to Israel
By highlighting various men and how God worked in their life.

From Adam – We learned about Sin
• The garden was perfect
• Creation was flawless
• And one act of disobedience wrecked it all
• Sin stains, Sin ruins, Sin defiles, Sin spoils

That is an important truth to learn in life
You don’t want to mess with sin.

From Noah – We learned about Judgment
• Ever since the first sin entered the world there was only ever one fate
• God must judge sin
• We saw that judgment in the form of a global killer in which only 8 survived
• God was grieved that He made man, and determined to destroy them

This is another important truth – “the wages of sin is death”

From Abraham – We learned about Salvation
• Abraham was a greedy pagan
• But God chose him, granted him faith, and then justified him because of that faith

Don’t mess with sin, it brings death,
But if you want salvation, then give God faith.
It is Moses’ story of the gospel.

This morning we move on to our 4th and 5th characters in Moses’ story.
Those men are Isaac and Jacob
From Isaac and Jacob we learn all about GRACE

Now it is true that grace was seen in Adam’s life, Noah’s life, and Abraham’s life,
For God has demonstrated it from the beginning.
Indeed you will also see it at work in Joseph.

But grace is what God highlights through the life of Isaac and Jacob.

And this grace is first revealed to us
In the mercy that God chose to bestow on each of these two boys.
Each of these men must be considered as “Vessels of Mercy”
And I’ll show you where I get that term from a little later.

What we are going to see revealed here in Genesis 25 is a CONTRAST
The first contrast is between Isaac and Ishmael
The second contrast is between Jacob and Esau

And what I want you to realize is that the only difference between each of these boys is that God chose one over the other.

In each of those contrasts,
• One was a recipient of grace, while one was not.
• One was a vessel of mercy, while one was not.

First let me show that to you and
Then we’ll talk about why it is important that you understand that.

So let’s look at our two vessels of mercy
Let’s look at our two recipients of grace
#1 ISAAC
Genesis 25:1-11

Now even before we dive into these 11 verses,
I do want to remind you briefly of who Isaac was.

• Isaac was that miracle baby.
• He was the promised child of Abraham and Sarah.

And of course you will remember that while Abraham was waiting on this miracle baby to arrive, he actually first took matters into his own hands.

Abraham got together with Sarah’s handmaid named Hagar
And fathered the boy Ishmael.

Isaac was Abraham’s second child.

And by the time we get to Genesis 25, Isaac and Ishmael are both grown, Sarah is dead and buried.

But we learn that Abraham is not finished having sons.
(1-4) “Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.”

So we learn that all total Abraham had 8 sons.
Ishmael was the oldest, Isaac was second, and then 6 by Abraham’s second wife.
Now the demonstration of grace toward Isaac comes in verses 5-6

(5-6) “Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.”

Isaac wasn’t the oldest, but Isaac was the chosen one.
Isaac got it all.
Sure the other sons received a gift, but Isaac got the inheritance.

And then Abraham did to his other sons
What he had already done to Ishmael.

Genesis 21:9-13 “Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.”

Why would Abraham send them all away?
BECAUSE GOD DECREED IT
ISAAC WAS THE CHOSEN ONE

And this grace on Isaac continued even after the death of Abraham.
(7-11) “These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.”

Ishmael comes back to help Isaac bury his father,
But it doesn’t change who God is favoring.

“God blessed his son Isaac”

Now you can read verses 12-18 and see that God didn’t mistreat Ishmael. Ishmael became a father of 12 tribes just as God had promised.

But Ishmael also became that wild donkey of a man God had said as well.

Genesis 16:11-12 “The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
And that obviously occurred

Verse 18 says “They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.”

The point is each of these boys became who God said they would become, the only difference is that Isaac was favored of God

Isaac was chosen
Isaac was the vessel of mercy
Isaac was the object of God’s grace

• Ishmael was older
• Ishmael was obviously resilient
• Ishmael even showed forgiveness coming back to bury Abraham.

Yet, God chose Isaac over Ishmael.
Isaac was the vessel of mercy, Isaac was the recipient of God’s grace

Now let me show you the second vessel of mercy
#2 JACOB
Genesis 25:19-26

I hope you already recognized a striking similarity to Isaac and Jacob.
BOTH ENJOYED SUPERNATURAL BIRTH & SPECIAL STATUS

Both were born as a result of divine intervention.
In both cases we have a barren woman giving birth to a child.

(19-21) “Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.”

And you will notice that just like Isaac,
Jacob also enjoyed a special status.

(22-26) “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.”
There again, the bizarre occurs.
The oldest and most obvious does not get the birthright or the blessing
God chooses the less likely.

Now you must realize that like Isaac, Jacob was not the obvious choice.
If you read on down to the end of the chapter (which we will cover next week),

You will realize that if you are judging things according to the flesh,
Then Esau beats Jacob hands down.

• Esau was the prototypical firstborn
• Esau was the man’s man
• And Isaac loved him for it

• Jacob was the momma’s boy
• Esau was the hunter, Jacob was the cook
• Esau was the beard grower, Jacob was the smooth skinned one.

While Esau shopped at “Bass Pro Shop”,
Jacob went to “Bed, Bath, and Beyond”
You get the idea?

And yet, God explicitly chose Jacob over Esau
Jacob was the vessel of mercy
Jacob was the recipient of grace

Esau was not.
In fact, if you look at the book of Malachi
God even gets more blunt about the choice.

Malachi 1:2-4 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the LORD of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever.”

Does it get any clearer than that?
God clearly chose Jacob, and God clearly did not choose Esau

And if chapter 25 of Genesis reiterates anything to us
It is the fact of God’s divine election.

You can’t read this chapter any other way than to say
God clearly chose two boys over everyone else.

• Isaac and Jacob were vessels of God’s mercy
• Isaac and Jacob were recipients of grace
• Isaac and Jacob were the chosen, the elect, the favored
That’s clear isn’t it?
You can’t see it any other way.

But honestly people routinely try to look at it another way because people have grown to HATE the concept of God’s sovereign election.

While there are many today who adhere to what is commonly called “Reformed Theology” or “Calvinism” or “The Doctrines of Grace”

There are many who literally hate the doctrine.
(Borrowing from John MacArthur’s sermon on election)
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-273/the-doctrine-of-election-part-1

Tim Lehaye says, “to suggest that the merciful, long-suffering, gracious and loving God of the Bible would invent a dreadful doctrine like this, predestination, which would have us believe it is an act of grace to select certain people for heaven and by exclusion others for hell comes perilously close to blasphemy.”

Another writes, “The flawed theology of preselection is an attempt to eliminate man’s capacity to exercise his free will which reduces God’s sovereign love to an act of a mere dictator.”

Another says, “Five-point Calvinism, makes God a monster who eternally tortures innocent children. It removes the hope of consolation from the gospel. It limits the atoning work of Christ. It resists evangelism. It stirs up argumentation and division and promotes a small angry judgmental God rather than the large-hearted God of the Bible.”

Another says, “To say that God sovereignly chooses who will be saved is the most twisted thing I have ever read that makes God a monster, no better than a pagan idol.”

Another writes, “This doctrine makes God a diabolical monster and reduces man who was created in the image of God to a mere robot.”

I think you’re getting the point.
There are a large number in the evangelical community
Who don’t just reject the doctrine of election, but who adamantly hate it.

Saying it makes God look, “dreadful”, like a “dictator”,
And most choose to use the word “monster”

There is a tremendous movement to completely eradicate any notion
That God might actually elect, foreknow, predestine,
Or choose anyone over someone else.

But I must say their refusal to acknowledge God’s election
Is difficult to swallow Biblically.
Why?

Because the Bible is chalked full of the words
“elect”, “predestined”, “chosen” and the such.

We don’t nearly have time to cover them all, but get a concordance out and seek out the word “elect” and see what you come up with.
Let me give you just a few…
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

John 6:67-70 “So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

And trust me when I tell you that is just the tip of the ice burg.

So you can hate the doctrine of election,
You can call God a “monster” for it,
But that doesn’t change the fact that
It is absolutely everywhere in the Bible.

Furthermore we have stories like the ones we just read in Genesis 25
Where God clearly chose two boys above everyone else.

Isaac and Jacob were clearly chosen above their brothers.
(Aren’t you going to see the same thing again with Joseph?)

AND YET PEOPLE STILL HATE IT.

BUT YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO VIEW THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION AND SEE GOD AS A MONSTER. LET ME SHOW YOU HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SEE HIM.
To finish up today, TURN TO: ROMANS 9

You begin Romans 9 by recognizing that
Paul has a great sorrow and grief in his heart over the fact that despite all her enlightenment Israel has failed to trust in Christ.

(READ 9:1-5)

Israel is presently lost, but can anyone blame God for that? No
Clearly God did more for Israel than He did for any other nation.
Israel got it all, and yet remained lost.

Well in Paul’s mind that brings up a very important question.
God chose Israel
God said Israel was His, and now they are clearly not.
They don’t love Him, they don’t trust Him, they don’t follow Him

SO… When God made all those promises about Israel being His people…did God’s word fail?

Was God unable to bring about what He promised concerning Israel?
He said they would be His, and they clearly are not…did God fail?

And you will see that Paul answers that question in verse 6.
(6) “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.”

Paul is going to explain why there are a whole population of Jews
Who do not believe in Christ.

And here it is:
(6b) “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”

That is an important statement.
Just because they are physical descendants of Abraham and Jacob
Does not make them true Israelites.

John the Baptist
Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

Jesus
John 8:39-40 “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.”

John the Apostle
John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Just because there are a lot of Jews who don’t trust Christ,
Doesn’t mean God failed.

Being a physical descendant of Abraham
Does not make you a true chosen Israelite.

What do you mean Paul?
You mean that even though I am a physical Jew, a descendant of Abraham, I still might not be one of God’s chosen?

Well, let’s look at the passage Paul quotes:
(READ 9:7-13)

And of course you recognize the two boys Paul highlights there,
It is the two boys we just saw in Genesis 25.

• Isaac who was chosen over Ishmael (though they were both from Abraham)
• And Jacob who was chosen over Esau (though they were both from Isaac)

And please notice that it had nothing at all to do
With the efforts of the boys.

(10-12) “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”

Those boys were selected before they ever did one single thing.

WHY? “so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand”

Why did God choose Jacob over Isaac?
Because He wanted to, and He has that prerogative.

Call Him a monster if you want, call Him a ruthless dictator if you think you must, but it does not change the fact that He did it.

God chose Isaac over Ishmael
God chose Jacob over Esau

And it had nothing to do with the merit of the boys
And everything to do with God’s sovereign right to choose.

• So why are not all of Abraham’s descendants saved?
• Why does all of Israel not currently believe in God?
ANSWER: They were not all chosen.
(If they had been, they would be)
Now, as I said, there is a whole community of people who cry “FOUL” over such a truth. They hate it, they reject it, they say, “That cannot be!”

Well, keep reading:
(READ 9:14)

That’s a good question isn’t…
• Is God unjust in doing this?
• Is it unfair for God to choose Jacob over Esau?
• Is it unfair for God to choose Isaac over Jacob?
• Did God do wrong there?

Paul’s answer, “May it never be!”

And here is why:
(READ 9:15-18)

What is the response of God?
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

That verse explains why people think election is so unfair.

People that think it is unfair for God to choose someone for salvation do so because they have failed to accurately assess the human condition.

Let me ask you a question:
• Is any human righteous in their own account? No
• Is there anyone who has not sinned and fallen short of God’s glory? No
• Is there anyone who does not deserve hell for eternity? No

Paul wanted to know if there was injustice with God.
Well, if God is only just,
Then every single human of all creation goes to hell for eternity.

“There is none righteous, not even one”

So let me tell you what God DID NOT do.
God DID NOT take a population of humans who deserved to go to heaven and then choose to make some go to hell anyway.

(And yet that is what so many assume, and that would be a Monster)

God took a population of humans who deserved to go hell
And mercifully chose to save some from it.
(A Monster doesn’t do that)

If you look at God choosing to bless Isaac and Jacob and then say
“Oh poor Ishmael” or “Oh poor Esau”
Then you have failed to rightly assess who they were.
Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, and Esau all deserved to spend eternity in hell,
And they deserved this before they were ever born,
Simply because they were Adam’s descendants.

But God mercifully chose to be gracious to two of them.
Can you fault God for showing mercy?
Can you fault God for showing compassion?

And then Paul gives the illustration of Pharaoh.

And in Pharaoh Paul begins to show God’s plan
For those who were not chosen.
Pharaoh would be like Ishmael or Esau

Men whom God did not choose,
But men whom God still allowed to prosper to some degree.

And here is why.
(READ 9:17-18)

God let them prosper and grow
Simply so that He could demonstrate His power in them.

If there had been no Pharaoh resisting God’s plan,
Then God would have never had the opportunity to show the Israelites
How powerful He was and how merciful He was to deliver them.

So God actually took those who were not chosen
And set them up as enemies that He might destroy them
And thus show His greatness to those He has chosen.

OH WOW!
Now that’s really not fair! (some would say)

It’s bad enough God didn’t choose them,
But now He actually takes them and brings them to power and then destroys them just to show how powerful He is?

That certainly isn’t fair!

(19) “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”

I mean, if God preordained them to be wicked,
How can He punish them for being what He made them in the first place?
Sounds unfair doesn’t it?

Now pay special attention to verses 20-21

(READ 9:20-21)

“Who are you..?”

Might I remind you of a foundational fact?
God will never stand on trial before you.
But you will most certainly stand on trial before Him.

• You are “then thing molded” not the “molder”
• You are “the clay” not the “potter”

And “Does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”

Can a potter take a lump of clay, break it in half and make half of it into a fine platter and the other half into a chamber pot?
And the answer is – YES HE CAN

God has the right to do and choose as He pleases
And you do not have the right to call Him a monster for doing so.

HE IS HOLY GOD, HE SITS ENTHRONED ABOVE THE HEAVENS,
AND IF IN HIS DIVINE PREROGATIVE HE ELECTS OR PREDESTINES,
NO LUMP OF CLAY HAS THE RIGHT TO TALK BACK TO HIM FOR IT.

He chose Isaac
He chose Jacob
BECAUSE HE WANTED TO AND BECAUSE HE HAS THE RIGHT

It is only an egocentric human with an inflated view of self-worth
Who would think they deserved more from God than they were getting.
Now that is fact.

But that is not where I want to leave it this morning.

Much of the evangelical world looks at God’s election
And says if that is true then God is a monster and a dictator.

Let me show you what God expects you to say
When you look at election.

For Paul is about to tell you one of the reasons
Why God chose some and destroyed others.

(READ 9:22-24)

There God had people who deserved destruction (Ishmael, Esau, Pharaoh, etc.)

But instead of instantly killing them,
God actually let them live and He patiently endured their godless ways.
(You will see that Esau was godless and yet God patiently endured him)

God “endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”

WHY?
(23) “And He did so to make know the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory”

God tolerated those who were wicked and let them remain
So that those who were chosen would understand
“His glory” and His “mercy” toward them.

As the other 7 of Abraham’s sons were sent away with nothing but a gift, what was Isaac supposed to think?

He had better be grateful and he had better see that he had been given far more than he deserved, and he had better glorify God who chose him when he didn’t deserve it.

How was Jacob supposed to respond to the fact that God chose him over Esau? He was supposed to be grateful and praise God for making him a vessel of mercy when he didn’t deserve it.

This reality should have crushed their pride!
This reality should have led them to honor God in unbelievable form!

Those boys were vessels of mercy
God was treating them better than they deserved!

But you see those boys aren’t alone:
(9:24) “even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

Are you a child of God?
If you are, it is because He has chosen you.

He could have left you to you deserve, and that would have been just.
But He instead made you “a vessel of mercy” and object of grace.

• You didn’t deserve what God did for you
• None of us did
• But when we were nothing, God gave us mercy and grace

Do you know what we give Him?
(not scorn, not calling Him a monster – GLORY!)

 

It is a tragedy that so many who claim to be Christians
Actually refuse to give God glory for His sovereign election
They instead malign Him for it.

I’m not here to malign God for His sovereign election
(He’s God He can do as He wants)
But I certainly want to thank Him that He chose me!

And if you are a child of God then you should to!
• We are vessels of mercy
• We are chosen
• And our God deserves glory for it!

And like Isaac and Jacob we weren’t the most logical choice either.
The Ishmaels and the Esaus of the world were a far more logical choice,
But God chose us.

Not because we deserved it, but because we didn’t,
And because as such we should be all the more willing to give Him glory!

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”